Friday, November 1
The first few days of November were pretty much the normal stuff of life...cleaning house, taking care of more business for Mother's estate, servicing the car, etc. We did receive a new set of dining room chairs from Ashley furniture, but discovered after the guys left that one of the chairs was out of balance and could not be balanced without putting a block of wood under one leg (which Barbara said was beyond totally unacceptable), so I called the company, listened for 20 minutes while a recording told me how important my call was to them, and finally got a live person who said they'd just send another chair...later...much later, but that's a story for another time.
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Happy November Birthday(s)!!!
Our family and extended family had more than a few November birthday celebrations, so we decided to give birthdays a separate section this time around:
2 - Cousin Danny Wright and "adopted" nephew Jonah Duke; 10 - James Francis; 16 - son-in Law Ryan McQuitty and sister-in-law Billee Little; 17 - granddaughter Randi Colwell and niece Brandi Boley; 25 - daughter-in-law Carol Colwell and son Jimmy Clint Colwell (who would have been 42 on this date); 26 - son Mike Little; 28 - Barbara Colwell Little (a rare birthday/Thanksgiving Day occurrence).
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Sunday, November 3
Our friends the Bagwells came by after church services for a short visit at the house before we all adjourned to the important business of the day, lunch at The Jalapeno Tree restaurant here in Mineola...needless to say, we had a wonderful visit with them. They are wonderful friends and we are so very blessed to have had them as part of our lives for nearly 20 years!
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Monday, November 4
Today was a very full day of housecleaning, cooking, and packing. Barbara cooked up some meals to take to TJ and our neighbors, John and Wanda and Addie. Meanwhile, I took Bonita to the vet (aka the Bradshaw Hilton) for an extended stay and visited with neighbor John about watching the house while we were out of town.
By tonight, the car was loaded with everything we'd need for an extended trip...all we had left was to get a good night's sleep.
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Tuesday, November 5---T-Day! (Trip Day)
Our long-planned extended trip is about to become a reality. I got up early to go to Yantis for the weekly prayer meeting and when I returned to the house, we spent the morning doing some last minute cleaning and straightening, and stuffed the last of the items into the car (should have taken a picture, but we couldn't leave the back hatch open without everything falling out).
We both had hair sessions with Leslie at 11:00, and then jumped in the car and headed east for a grand adventure. First on the "to-do" list, though, was for Barbara to document her new "do."
The first leg of the trip took us from Mineola to West Monroe, Louisiana. Since we had two cameras with us, it only seemed fitting that we should take photos of the scenery through East Texas and western Louisiana.
When we got to West Monroe, we checked in at the Best Western. Barbara called Leah who informed us that we were at the home of Duck Dynasty. Now, that didn't mean much to us, since it was only a name we had heard, but didn't know anything about.
Since it was a beautiful evening, we decided to walk a few blocks to locate a seafood restaurant we'd heard about. Along the way, however, Barbara spotted the Duck Diner sign, so we decided to give it a try. And, it was beyond wonderful. I had sausage and duck gumbo and Barbara tried Miss Kay's meatloaf platter. There was more than plenty to eat and it was all delicious!
While in the gift shop after eating, we learned that the restaurant had been open only a week, and that on opening day, even though the kitchen was full stocked and there was a semi-trailer full of food behind the restaurant, they ran out of everything by 7:00 pm that day and had to tell the long line of potential patrons that they had to close...lots of disappointed folks that day, we're sure!
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Wednesday, November 6
Again with the cameras...we don't know if this is considered a double-selfie, but it has become our custom to experiment with mirrors and light for photos whenever we stay in a new place...this was the start of our day.
The route for the day was I-20 across eastern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and into the Atlanta, Georgia area, where we had a reservation at the Best Western College Park on the southwest side of the city.
Tonight we called our friends Bob and Nell and made arrangements to meet them for breakfast in the morning. We also called my nephew, Gary Dan, to see if we could meet him, but he was at work, so we talked a bit and said that maybe we could catch up with each other the next time we come through.
Dinner tonight was delicious seafood delivered to the room...we felt like we were royalty of some kind!
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Thursday, November 7
Bob and Nell, friends that we met in 2007 when we went to Lady Lake, Florida for our first church-building adventure, picked us up at the motel and took us to the Barbecue Kitchen for a wonderful southern breakfast and an hour or so of visiting. With Bob and Nell, each time we see each other, we seem to pick up wherever we left off the last conversation, no matter how much time has passed.
After breakfast, we went back to the motel, checked out, and started a gray, rainy trip around Atlanta toward I-85 East. Our first stop was at a Cracker Barrel just northeast of the city, where we did some shopping and took advantage of some of the scenery behind the store for a photo session.
The road today took us through Georgia, South Carolina (where we did some serious shop-looking at an outlet mall) and into north Carolina, where we stopped for the night at the Best Western in Gastonia.
A primary reason for staying in Gastonia tonight was that we wanted to try to visit with Betty Black. Bob Black was the finest mentor teacher I've ever met. We met in 1970 when I first started teaching in Stanley, North Carolina. Bob was at Mt. Holly, just down the road from Stanley, and for some reason, he took me under his wing. We taught together at East Gaston High School from 1972 - 1976, and when I left Gaston County to return to Texas, Bob left EG and took the middle school band programs at Stanley and Mt. Holly.
Bob passed away five years ago and although I've talked to Bett (the name everyone used for her), Barbara and I hadn't seen her for a number of years.
As always, Bett was a gracious hostess, showing us her new room at the retirement home and introducing us to some of her friends.
Barbara snapped this photo of Bett and me with the picture of Bob and Bett in the background.
Yeah, we did start the day this morning with a selfie, but had time this evening to give it another shot.
As we were getting in the car to return to the motel, I noticed I had received a call. It was from the motel, letting me know that a Mr. Hollis had been there looking for me. Barbara asked who Mr. Hollis was, and I told her he was the principal who first hired me in 1970.
We rushed back to the motel, got the telephone information, and I called Mr. Hollis (his name is Neb, but I still can't call him that...he'll always be Mr. Hollis to me.
Mr. Hollis and his wife, Louise, took time out of their evening to drive back to Gastonia from Stanley and visit with us for about an hour. It was a very short time, but the years between 1976 and 2013 magically rolled away as we tried to catch up on each others lives. this was definitely a day to remember!
And how did Mr. Hollis even know I was in town? It seems that someone from his church is linked to a FB page about Stanley that I posted on with information about our upcoming trip to Washington, DC. Whoever saw it copied it off and gave it to Mr. Hollis just this morning and he took the time to come by to find us. A-h-h, the power of Facebook!
When we had finished our visit and Mr. and Mr. Hollis left, Barbara and I adjourned to the Texas Roadhouse next door to the motel for a great meal. We were seated in the Willy Nelson booth. The lighting wasn't very good for photography, but the service and the meal more than made up for that!
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Friday, November 8
This morning we headed out on the last leg of the journey to Midlothian, Virginia, just southwest of Richmond, to spend some time with Mike, Kelly, Ava, and Jack.
The scenery through North Carolina and Virginia was beautiful, as it is year-round.
Our first stop in Midlothian was at Mike's office. His building overlooks one of the many area lakes and the scenery is beyond gorgeous. We decided we'd never get any work done if we were employed there.
After seeing Mike for a few minutes, we headed to the house. I unloaded the car while Barbara unpacked and started doing loads of laundry.
Mike and Kelly came home later, bringing Ava and Jack from daycare, and we started the first of several days of serious Grams and Gramps time! And yes, there are more than a few photos to document the visit...
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Saturday, November 9
Fall had made a serious appearance by the time we arrived, so we tackled some leaf raking and bagging this morning.
Later in the morning, Barbara, Kelly, and the kids disappeared to do some shopping and look for something for lunch, Meanwhile, Mike and I alternated leaf raking and searching for football games on TV.
When everyone was back in place, we spent the remainder of the day and evening catching up and playing with Ava and Jack.
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Sunday, November 10
Barbara and I were still recuperating from our travels, so we stayed at the house this morning while Mike, Kelly, and the kids went to church. Around noon, we met them at Chuck E Cheese's for a birthday party for one of Ava's friends. Needless to say, a good time was had by all (most of the time).
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Monday, November 11
Since our visit was going to be relatively short, we decided to keep Ava and Jack this morning and take them on an adventure...a trip to the Richmond Children's Museum...always a favorite with Ava, and after today, also a great place for Jack.
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Barbara and I spent the morning washing clothes and doing some packing for the next leg of our journey. We met Mike for lunch, and then picked the kids up from daycare and took them to Inflation Nation, a large warehouse devoted to fun with every kind of inflatable structure. Ava was a little slow to get started in the bouncy houses, but soon was all over the place. Even Jack seemed to enjoy crawling around and getting bounced.
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Wednesday, November 13
After the kids left for work, we packed the car and headed north to Washington, DC to take part in another bugler event at Arlington National Cemetery later in the week. We learned from our last experience to build in an extra day to do some things we wanted to do, so we got there today and checked in at the hotel. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't cooperating, so we took the afternoon and evening to just wind down and relax before hitting the deck running tomorrow morning.
One of my former band members from Liberal, Jon Harvey, is now a U.S. Army Major posted at the Pentagon. we contacted Jon about getting together and meeting his family while we were in town, but it just wasn't going to work. Instead, Jon emailed tonight as asked if we would be interested in a tour of the Pentagon tomorrow. We jumped all over that offer and spent part of the evening making plans for a new adventure.
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Thursday, November 14
Our day began with a 10-minute walk to the Rosslyn Metro Station (where we had to get reacquainted with using the system). With help from some of the employees at the station, we soon had senior Metro passes in hand and were taking the escalator down into the bowels of the earth to catch a ride to points south.
Our first stop was at Crystal City, a large hotel and apartment complex with a huge underground mall. We walked all around the mall and found that everything anyone living there could ever need was readily available. We had a great meal while we were underground and even got in a little Christmas shopping.
After finishing our underground meal, we hopped aboard the Metro and rode back north to the Pentagon stop. Jon had given us good directions, so it was just a few minutes to get from the station to the security checkpoint where he met us and guided us through the process.
Jon is very well versed in the history of the Pentagon and ended up giving us a nearly 3-hour personally guided tour of the building, showing us places that most visitors don't get to see. We even got to go to his office and meet his bosses (but only after handing over our cell phones for security reasons).
We didn't get to take photos inside the building, but when our tour was over, Jon pointed us toward the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial, where we were free to take all the photos we wanted.
It was an amazing day...I saw more generals in three hours than I did in four years of air force duty. But the most amazing part of the day was spending time with Jon Harvey and catching up on each other's lives since his graduation from Liberal High School in 1994. Jon is doing quite well as a career officer in the army, so I guess I didn't do too much damage to him when he was one of my students...that's always a good thing to learn!
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Friday, November 15
As part of the package of coming to Washington, DC for the bugler event, we were invited to some special events at the Newseum, the relatively new museum on Independence Avenue that is dedicated to showing the history of news media.
We again started our day with a walk to the Rosslyn Metro Station, but this time we were headed to downtown DC. When we came up from the station downtown, we found we were at the U.S. Navy Memorial, so we just had to stop and take pictures of sculptures depicting important events in naval history.
The premier exhibit at the Newseum had to do with the Kennedy family and, particularly, the events surrounding the assassination of the president in 1963. For those of us who were of "the age," it was like stepping back into November, 1963 and reliving the events all over. Among those who toured the entire exhibit, there were tears and cracked voices as they left the area and returned to November 2013.
Other major exhibits included one centered around the events of 9/11, and one commemorating the fall of the Berlin Wall, complete with several sections of the original wall and a guard tower...all very stark and somber.
All was not total seriousness, however, as we discovered when we toured the Anchorman II exhibit. Barbara sat behind the anchor desk and I played weatherman for a bit.
And, of course, there was time and opportunity for us to have a little photo phun using the grandeur of Washington, DC as a backdrop. Barbara shot some wonderful "campaign poster" photos of me. Now all I have to do is get a campaign up and running. We decided that when I get elected to Congress, we'll live in an apartment in Crystal City and I'll ride the Metro to work each day.
When we were finished with the exhibits at the Newseum, several of us grabbed our trumpets and stood outside along Independence Avenue and played double quartets arranged by Jari Villanueva, the organizer of the events this week. Jari is a retired USAF bandsman and bugler who who sounded Taps at Arlington National Cemetery more than 2,300 times during his Air Force career.
We left the Newseum and joined the throngs at the Metro Station to return to Rosslyn and walk back to the motel to get dressed for yet another big event tonight. First, however, we had the privilege of meeting with former Liberal WMS student and Odyssey of the Mind team member, John Buttram, who now lives in DC and works for Capital One. It was a short, but very warm and wonderful visit, and we were reminded once again that we must not have done very much damage to our students when we were teaching.
After John left to return home, we got in the car and drove to Fort Myers for a reception for buglers and their families at the beautiful Brucker Hall, home of Pershing's Own United States Army Band. We had a great meal, visited with other buglers, and even had the honor of meeting with Nancy Joy McColley, one of the daughters of Keith Clark, the Army Band bugler who sounded Taps at the funeral of President John F. Kennedy.
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Saturday, November 16
Today was the day! Several months ago, plans were in the making for a celebration of the sounding of Taps at the funeral of John F. Kennedy in November, 1963. With Jari Villanueva and his team leading the efforts to pull the celebration together at Arlington National Cemetery, plans were finalized and 100 buglers from around the country joined together to celebrate the memory of Sergeant Keith Clark of the United States Army Band, the bugler who was chosen to sound Taps on that cold, cloudy day.
As buglers gathered to register at the Old Amphitheater, Barbara was busy capturing the scenes.
Directing the assembled buglers in harmonized and unison soundings of Taps was Colonel Michael Colburn, Commander and Conductor of The President's Own United States Marine Band.
The bagpipers shown in one of the photos are original members of The USAF Band Pipers who played for the Kennedy funeral. They still get together after all these years to rehearse and perform.
And, we were honored to have the Colors presented by the Joint Services Color Guard and music performed by The United States Army Band.
Among the attendees today was a former student of Barbara's from her teaching days in Lubbock. Adria Gaharti is now a forensics specialist working in the DC area...definite proof that Barbara didn't do too much damage to her students! Adria even brought along DJ, a co-worker, to join our little group which was also bolstered by Carrie Bates Foote, a classmate of our from Artesia High School, and her husband, Norm.
Last year at the Taps 150, Jim and I met Julie and Frank Stevens (top right photo). We were delighted to find that they were once again here and we could hang out together. By the way, if you're looking for a wonderful place to have a wedding, check out Julie and Frank's place in Maine.
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Following the formal ceremony, all of the buglers gathered in front of the stage of the Old Amphitheater for a group photo.
These are members of Bugles Across America who participated in the event.
After the photo sessions, buglers moved to sites throughout the cemetery to sound Taps at graves or memorials of their choosing.
I had selected the memorial of Civil War General Benjamin Piatt Runkle, who was also one of the founders of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. I knew that the Runkle Memorial Warden, Bill Morrow, would be there, but was surprised to find that Past Grand Consul Dennis Santoli was also present and would lead our little group in a White Rose Ceremony to honor brothers who have passed into the Sigma Chi Chapter Eternal. The wives of these brothers, our entourage, and two undergraduate Sigma Chi brothers made for quite a gathering.
Adria, DJ, Carrie, Norm, and Barbara and I then walked through the cemetery to the Tomb of the Unknowns to view the very moving Changing of the Guard, and a wreath-laying ceremony in which the family of Sgt. Keith Clark placed a wreath in memory of their father/husband and in honor of Taps for Veterans and all military buglers.
This was the first time Barbara and I have seen Arlington National Cemetery during the fall, and we just couldn't help taking photos of the beautiful foliage.
And when all was sounded, and said, and done, we returned to our vehicles to leave these hallowed grounds and get on with the business of living, which included a trip to the world-famous Phillips Seafood Restaurant, where we indulged and then over-indulged on delicious seafood.
When we had eaten all we could, we said our goodbyes to Adria and DJ and then (more or less) followed Norm and Carrie back to their house in Woodbridge, Virginiato spend a quiet evening of catching up on lost months and years.
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Sunday, November 17
We enjoyed a wonderful homecooked breakfast with Carrie and Norm this morning and then packed the car and headed back to Midlothian to catch up with Mike, Kelly, Ava, and Jack.
This afternoon we all went to one of our favorite places in Richmond, Maymont Park, home to animals, some of the most beautiful scenery in all of Virginia, and hiking trails galore. The photos show that a good time was had by all.
When we were done at Maymont, Mike and Kelly surprised us with a drive to Cary Street, also one of our favorite Richmond haunts, and a delicious Thai dinner at one of the Cary Street restaurants as an early celebration of Barbara's birthday.
After we got back to the house and settled in for the night, we checked our email and found this photo of Jaycie and her friend Keaton as they prepared to attend Jaycie's volleyball banquet...just had to show it off.
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Monday, November 18
We spent the morning doing laundry and trying to get our stuff organized for packing for the long trip back home.
At noon, we met Mike and our mission friends Rod and Ruth, who drove down from Lake Anna, Virginia for a visit, for lunch and lots of talking. Like Bob and Nell who we visited in Atlanta, Rod and Ruth were some of the first folks we met when we helped build the church in lady Lake, Florida in 2006, and we have become fast friends over the years.
This afternoon we picked Ava and Jack up early from daycare and took them to Barnes and Noble to look for books and to watch Ava entertain us on the stage in the children's section.
And tonight was the first of what would become a long season of Christmas celebrations. We decided long ago that Christmas is more than a day on the calendar...it is whenever families and friends can get together to celebrate that very special spirit. (We also did an early birthday for Mike, and Mike and Kelly reciprocated with an early birthday for Jim).
Would you agree with us that Ava thought it was a great Christmas?
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Tuesday, November 19
We had originally planned to begin the trip back home today, but plans changed and instead we went to Kohls and a few other places to do some serious shopping. We joined Mike for lunch at Panda Express and then returned to the house to do some serious packing.
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Wednesday and Thursday, November 20-21
All good things must come to an end, and this morning was the end of our visit with the kids in Virginia. Our plan called for us to drive across I-64 to Olathe, Kansas and a "Christmas" visit with Whitney, Jim, and Jimmy, but we felt so bad that we called Whitney and said we felt like we'd better get back to Texas as quickly as possible. So, we headed south in I-85, retracing the route we came out on. But, by the time we got to Greensboro, North Carolina, we were feeling better and decided we'd tough it out and go on to Kansas.
So, we headed west on I-40 and drove to Newport, Tennessee where we found a nice Best Western.
The next morning we got an early start and drove through Knoxville and Nashville, then headed north, stopping for the night in Marion, Illinois because of heavy rains and zero visibility.
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Friday, November 22
After a long day's drive through Illinois and Missouri and into Kansas, we finally arrived at Whitney and Jim's house in Olathe. We unloaded the car, semi-unpacked, and settled in for an evening of visiting with the kids.
Tonight we had the interesting experience of going to the 888 Asian Store/Market, just down the street from Whitney and Jim. We didn't know what to expect, but found not only a great place to eat, but also a store in which we could find every kind of Chinese fruit, vegetable, and meat we could ever hope to find. Heck, we found things we hadn't seen since we last visited Mike in China 9 years ago. If the car wasn't already overloaded, we'd surely find a few things we couldn't live without!
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Saturday, November 23
No trip to Olathe is complete without at least one meal at Mimi's, and we chose breakfast for today. What a wonderful time we had sharing a meal with Whitney, Jim, and Jimmy!
After breakfast, the kids took us to the most humongous grocery store we've ever seen...we had adventures galore before returning to the house to settle in for an afternoon and evening of visiting and sharing yet another Christmas celebration.
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Sunday, November 24
Our visit with the Olathe bunch was short and sweet, but we all had plans for the week ahead, so we packed the car this morning and got an early start.
All went well until we got close to McAlester, Oklahoma and ran into freezing rain and sleet. But, we toughed it out and drove slowly down the Indian Nation Turnpike until we finally got ahead of the storm front and were able to pick up enough speed to get back to Mineola before dark.
We stopped at TJ's house to let her know we were back, and then went to the house to unload, unpack, and begin the first of several loads of laundry.
This is the car before unloading and after 20 days of travels and 3,466 miles through 15 states and the District of Columbia:
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Monday, November 25
This was a day of getting reorganized and preparing for a very busy week.
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Tuesday, November 26
Leah came over today and joined us in the kitchen as we prepared an early Thanksgiving dinner for our Mineola family.
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Wednesday, November 27
Like Christmas, Thanksgiving is not necessarily a day on the calendar, but instead is the day when the family can get together and celebrate our blessings. Because Angela has to work tomorrow, we did our Thanksgiving for the Mineola bunch today. it was the first Thanksgiving without Mother present, and there was a huge empty place, but we managed to have a good time anyway.
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Thursday, November 28...Thanksgiving Day
Today we drove to Richardson to share in Thanksgiving with Heather, Andy, Alexander, Abby, and Andy's parents, Len and Marilyn.
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Friday, November 29
It's time to get serious about the annual bread-baking frenzy. Today we set up two bread makers and started churning out the dough and firing up the oven in preparation for Christmas.
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Saturday, November, 30
Having been gone for nearly three weeks, there was plenty to do to get the house back in order. I did some elemental plumbing work to get ready for the guys who will come next week to refinish our bathroom cabinets, and Barbara joined in with the housework.
This afternoon we took in a movie at Mineola's historic Select Theater and then went to Wood Memorial Nursing Home for a visit with Elmer and Jenny Bunn.
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"I like photography because pictures are full of memories and every time you take a picture, you are capturing memories..." - Paula Bernal, student
Filled with memories as we settle in for another month,
Jim/Dad/Gramps and Barbara/Mom/Grams
